France’s high earners move to London job market

High-earning French employees are increasingly upping sticks and moving to London in a bid to avoid the new 75 per cent tax, dailymail.co.uk reports.

Since coming to power last year, France’s Socialist leader Francoise Hollande has imposed a 75 per cent levy on earnings over a million euros (£850,000). This has led to many of those holding high-profile jobs to defect to so-called “wealth friendly” countries such as the UK, Belgium and Russia.

Among those moving have included musician Jean-Michel Jarre and actor Gerard Depardieu. It’s not all famous people crossing the channel, however, as reports published by metro.co.uk claim that recruitment firms can expect to see an increase in the number of French nationals looking to the London jobs market.

Some, it is claimed, could see volumes increase by half.

British prime minister David Cameron, meanwhile, has said he will welcome any high-earners from across the channel with open arms. He claimed Britain would be “rolling out the red carpet” to welcome new workers, adding that their taxes would be used to “pay for our health service and schools”.

Furthermore, a spokesperson for Number 10 issued a statement calling for yet more foreign nationals to come looking for a job in London, with the technology cluster in the east of the capital providing a location that could compete with the best in the world.